1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device for use in an injection molding machine, and more particularly, to a control device for use in an injection molding machine comprising a human-machine interface section.
2. Description of the Related Art
An injection molding machine is provided with a cylindrical barrel and a hopper into which is put a synthetic resin material.
The barrel has an injection nozzle provided at the tip thereof, and has an injection screw provided therein in a rotatable manner and in a manner to be able to move back and forth with respect to the injection nozzle.
The hopper is disposed in the rear of the barrel, and sends into the barrel the synthetic resin material which has been put in.
The barrel heats and melts the synthetic resin material. Further, after the injection nozzle is placed against a nozzle inlet of a metal mold, the barrel extrudes the heated molten resin to the tip by the rotation of the injection screw, and injects it from the injection nozzle to the metal mold.
The metal mold is held in a closed state by a mold open/close mechanism, and has a cavity filled with the molten resin injected from the injection nozzle.
Then, the injection nozzle is separated from the mold, and the mold is released from the mold open/close mechanism. Thus, a molded article is taken out from the mold.
A control device which controls such an injection molding machine is provided with a human-machine interface section to control an operation unit and a display section.
When operated by the operator, the human-machine interface section sets numerical data on speed, pressure, time and the like concerning processes such as injection, opening/closing of the mold, extrusion and measurement. Further, the human-machine interface section displays the set numerical data as set values on the display section.
The display section displays a main screen used to set the set values, and a subscreen which indicates a monitor value and the like.
The display section selects, by a direct key of hardware, a screen group to be displayed on the main screen, and changes the screens of the same screen group by a function button provided at the bottom of a display screen. For the subscreen, the screens are changed by a screen selection button disposed in a menu screen.
Thus, when the screens are changed in the subscreen, the screen has to be once returned to the menu screen before operating the screen selection button, which requires wasteful time to change the screen.
On the other hand, before molding, the human-machine interface section sequentially sets into a memory the set values by use of setters while changing the screen. After the molding is started, the human-machine interface section changes the set value for the each process as necessary to adjust optimum conditions while checking the quality of a molded article. However, the respective setters are not disposed in the same screen in many cases.
Therefore, each time, the human-machine interface section needs to change setting after searching for the necessary setter while changing the screen of the display section, thus requiring some time to change the screen.